Riding God's Train and Bringing an Umbrella

November 2, 2026

My daily schedule here in Africa varies tremendously depending on whether or not we are hosting an American mission team. We typically welcome ten to twelve teams each year, with most staying about ten to twelve days. That means we spend nearly a third of our year hosting visitors who come to serve alongside us.

Those weeks are certainly busier, but they are also among my favorite times of the year.

One of the things I enjoy most about hosting mission teams is the opportunity to see Africa through fresh eyes. After living and serving here for more than twenty years, it is easy to become accustomed to the extraordinary beauty of God's creation that surrounds us every day.

The sound of monkeys screeching at one another in the trees, the distant cry of a jackal in the night, the breathtaking beauty of the African night sky filled with more stars than one could ever count- these are things that I sometimes take for granted. But when I experience them alongside Americans visiting Africa for the first time, I am reminded all over again what an incredible privilege it is to live here.

I have mentioned before how much I enjoy riding my bicycle through the beautiful Legend Golf & Safari Resort, where we have made our African home. The golf course rests at the foot of the magnificent Waterberg Mountains, surrounded by the African bushveld, where some of the world's most remarkable wildlife can be found.

Sometimes, as I ride my bicycle through this beautiful landscape, I wonder how a small-town boy from Clearfield, Iowa, ever ended up living in such an extraordinary place.

I also have a podcast called Adventures in Africa with Doc, and that title certainly describes our lives here. Living in Africa is truly one adventure after another. And those adventures are often best enjoyed with a group of Americans who have just arrived and can hardly believe how different the culture, environment, and daily experiences are from what they have known back home.

The first several years after we made Africa our second home were not always easy. There were hardships, uncertainties, inconveniences, and sacrifices. We lived much more simply than we had in America, and there were times when we wondered how God would provide for the next step in our ministry.

But He always did.

Looking back over these past twenty-five years, I can see God's hand of protection and provision in ways that were not always obvious at the time.

The season of life I am enjoying today is truly what I would describe as living the dream.

Of course, there are still things that Beth and I miss about America. We enjoy many comforts here, but nothing can replace the joy of being close to family and loved ones. The greatest sacrifice of missionary life today is the prolonged separation from people we love so dearly.

Yet God has given us another family here in Africa—our wonderful staff, our ministry partners, the many volunteers who serve alongside us, and thousands of beautiful children who have become such an important part of our lives.

Riding God's Train

When our American mission teams come to serve with us, they nearly always shower us with praise for the wonderful things they see happening through Blessman International.

They see children receiving nutritious meals, families gaining access to clean water, schools receiving safe sanitation facilities, and young people discovering hope for their futures.

Their encouragement means a great deal to us, but I sometimes feel compelled to remind them that Beth and I cannot take much credit for what has happened here.

I often picture our ministry as a great train.

Twenty-five years ago, God invited us to climb aboard a train that was headed for Africa. We had little idea where it was going, how long the journey would last, or what we would encounter along the way.

We simply said yes and climbed aboard.

Over the years, God has invited many others to join us on this journey. Wonderful staff members from America and South Africa, faithful donors, church partners, volunteers, and hundreds of mission team members have all found their places on this train.

Our responsibility has not been to drive the train or determine every destination. Rather, it has been to trust the One who invited us aboard, watch where He is working, and faithfully join Him in that work.

As I grow older, I have come to appreciate something else about this train. Although our journey has taken us to Africa, I believe its ultimate destination is much greater than any place on this earth.

We are all traveling through this life toward eternity, and my greatest joy is not simply helping children enjoy a better life today, but introducing them to Jesus, who offers them the promise of eternal life.

The meals we serve, the water we provide, and the love we share are all ways of helping these children experience God's love here and now. But the greatest gift we can offer is the opportunity to know Him personally and someday share eternity in His presence.

Africa may be where God has taken us, but Heaven is where He is leading us.

One of the most exciting parts of this journey is that we also get to invite the beautiful children of Africa to climb aboard.

For many of these children, life began under extremely difficult circumstances. Poverty, hunger, inadequate sanitation, and limited opportunities are everyday realities. But when they discover that someone cares about them, that they have value, and that God has a purpose for their lives, something wonderful begins to happen.

Hope is born.

And hope can change the direction of a child's life.

I love the thought that the train God invited us to board so many years ago continues to gather passengers. Some will ride with us for only a week or two. Others will remain involved for many years. And some of the children we serve today may someday become the leaders who carry this ministry into the next generation.

What a wonderful adventure it has been!

Special Friends Along the Journey

Today we are saying goodbye to one of my all-time favorite mission teams as they begin their journey home to America.

This team comes from Truelife Church in Delaware and is led by Pastor Perry Mears, who has brought teams to serve with us many times over the past fifteen years.

Perry has become much more than a visiting pastor. He is a dear friend and a faithful partner in the work God has called us to do.

There is something very special about serving alongside people who share your heart for ministry. Over the years, I have watched Perry lead his teams with humility, enthusiasm, compassion, and a genuine love for the Lord.

It is easy for me to understand why his church continues to grow and remain spiritually strong. His commitment to the Word of God is evident not only in what he teaches but also in how he lives and leads.

When teams like Perry's come to Africa, they bring much more than their willingness to work. They bring encouragement to our staff, love to our children, fresh enthusiasm for our mission, and a reminder that we are part of a much larger family of believers.

And I believe they often return home having received at least as much as they gave.

That is one of the beautiful mysteries of Christian service. When we give ourselves away in service to others, God has a remarkable way of filling our own hearts with joy.

Digging a Pond Before the Rain Comes

There is another adventure taking place here at our ministry that I want to share with you.

For the past couple of weeks, we have had heavy equipment working at Mountain View Farm, digging a large pond that we hope will become an important water reservoir for our agricultural ministry.

Our farm has been blessed with a dependable supply of water for irrigating our vegetable crops. We have watched God provide for this important part of our child feeding program year after year.

But recently, I have had a growing sense that we should be preparing for the possibility of dry seasons ahead.

Water is one of the most precious resources in Africa. Without it, crops cannot grow, animals cannot thrive, and communities struggle to survive.

We have seen firsthand how devastating drought can be for families who already have so little.

I believe God has been impressing upon my heart that we should not take today's blessings for granted. We should be grateful for the water we have, but we should also be wise enough to prepare for the day when it may become scarce.

So we decided to dig a pond.

And not a little pond!

It is a substantial undertaking, requiring heavy equipment and the movement of many tons of earth. We are getting close to completion, although there are still a couple of weeks of work ahead of us.

The interesting thing is that we are digging this pond before we have the rain to fill it.

We are preparing a place for water that has not yet arrived.

That requires a measure of faith.

It reminds me of an old story I once heard about a farming community in America that was suffering through a terrible drought.

The farmers were desperate for rain. Their crops were dying, their fields were dry, and the entire community was becoming discouraged.

Finally, the local pastor invited everyone to gather at the church to pray that God would send rain.

The church was filled with people who came believing that God could answer their prayers.

But there was something unusual about the gathering.

Of all the people who came to pray for rain, only one or two had thought to bring an umbrella!

I have always loved that story because it raises an important question.

When we pray for God to do something, do we really expect Him to answer?

Faith is more than believing that God is able to do something. It is also being willing to prepare ourselves for what He may do.

In our case, the pond is our prayer, and the waterproof lining we are installing at the bottom is our umbrella.

We are doing the work necessary to prepare for the rain, trusting that God will provide what we cannot manufacture ourselves.

Of course, faith does not mean that we can dictate when or how God will answer our prayers. The rain will come according to His timing, not ours.

But I believe He expects us to be good stewards of the resources He has already placed in our hands.

We can dig the pond. We can install the lining. We can prepare the irrigation systems.

But only God can send the rain.

What Are We Preparing For?

As I reflect on this project, I realize that digging our pond is not so different from the larger work of Blessman International.

For twenty-five years, we have been preparing for things we could not yet see.

We began serving children long before we had the resources to reach thousands of them.

We drilled our first water wells without knowing that someday we would be celebrating more than one hundred wells bringing clean water to communities.

We planted gardens, established feeding programs, built churches, and developed relationships with schools and communities, often without knowing how God would provide for the next stage of growth.

Again and again, we have discovered that God often asks us to take the first step before He reveals the next one.

I believe that is one of the great adventures of following Jesus.

We do not always get to see the entire journey before we climb aboard the train.

And we do not always get to see the rain before we begin digging the pond.

But we can trust the One who calls us.

As I look toward the future of Blessman International, I continue to dream of the day when we will be feeding many more children, providing clean water to many more communities, and helping thousands of young people discover the hope that comes through knowing Jesus Christ.

Those dreams are much bigger than anything Beth and I could ever accomplish on our own.

But then again, so was the dream God placed in our hearts twenty-five years ago.

And look what He has already done!

Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned in these years of missionary service is that God does not always call us to understand His entire plan. He calls us to trust Him enough to take the next step.

So we will keep riding His train, inviting others to climb aboard, and doing our best to be faithful wherever He leads.

We may not know every stop along the way, but through faith in Jesus Christ, we have the wonderful assurance of knowing where our ultimate journey leads. And I cannot imagine a greater privilege than helping others discover that same hope.

And while we wait for the rain, we will keep digging our pond.

After all, if we are going to pray for rain, shouldn't we bring an umbrella?

Blessings from Africa,